Woman's Area - STD Symptoms

Untreated STDs can cause fertility issues in women

STDs are transmitted during any type of sexual contact and affect women of any age. Unfortunately for women, symptoms of many STDs often go unnoticed. At Neo-Health, we recommend regular screening which can lead to early detection and, if any concerns are identified, earlier treatment. Our experts at Neo-Health are empathetic and have broad experience in treating STDs across the spectrum. They are available to discuss any particular issues you may have.

Chlamydia symptoms

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection of your genital tract. Chlamydia may be difficult to detect because early-stage infections often cause few or no signs and symptoms.

When they do occur, they usually start one to three weeks after you've been exposed to chlamydia. Even when signs and symptoms occur, they're often mild and passing, making them easy to overlook.

Signs and symptoms may include:

Painful urination

Lower abdominal pain

Vaginal discharge in women

Pain during sexual intercourse in women

Bleeding between periods in women.

Gonorrhea symptoms

Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection of your genital tract. It can also grow in your mouth, throat, eyes and anus. The first gonorrhea symptoms generally appear within 10 days after exposure. However, some people may be infected for months before signs or symptoms occur.

Signs and symptoms of gonorrhea may include:

Thick, cloudy or bloody discharge from the vagina

Pain or burning sensation when urinating

Heavy menstrual bleeding or bleeding between periods

Painful bowel movements

Anal itching

Trichomoniasis symptoms

Trichomoniasis is a common STI caused by a microscopic, one-celled parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis. This organism spreads during sexual intercourse with someone who already has the infection.

Trichomoniasis typically infects the vagina in women. When trichomoniasis causes symptoms, they may appear within five to 28 days of exposure and range from mild irritation to severe inflammation.

Signs and symptoms may include:

Clear, white, greenish or yellowish vaginal discharge

Strong vaginal odor

Vaginal itching or irritation

Pain during sexual intercourse

Painful urination

HIV symptoms

HIV is an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. HIV interferes with your body's ability to fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause illness, and it can lead to AIDS, a chronic, life-threatening disease.

When first infected with HIV, you may have no symptoms. Some people develop a flu-like illness, usually two to six weeks after being infected. Still, the only way you know if you have HIV is to be tested.

Early signs and symptoms

Early HIV signs and symptoms may include:

Fever

Headache

Sore throat

Swollen lymph glands

Rash

Fatigue

These early signs and symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for those of another viral infection. During this period, you're highly infectious. More persistent or severe symptoms of HIV infection may not appear for 10 years or more after the initial infection.

As the virus continues to multiply and destroy immune cells, you may develop mild infections or chronic signs and symptoms such as:

Swollen lymph nodes — often one of the first signs of HIV infection

Diarrhoea Weight loss

Fever Cough and shortness of breath

Late-stage HIV infection

Signs and symptoms of late-stage HIV infection include:

Persistent, unexplained fatigue. Soaking night sweats

Shaking chills or fever higher than 100.4 F (38 C) for several weeks

Swelling of lymph nodes for more than three months

Chronic diarrhoea. Persistent headaches

Unusual, opportunistic infections

Genital herpes symptoms

Highly contagious, genital herpes is caused by a type of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) that enters your body through small breaks in your skin or mucous membranes. Most people with HSV never know they have it, because they have no signs or symptoms or the signs and symptoms are so mild they go unnoticed.

When present, genital herpes signs and symptoms may include:

Small red bumps, blisters (vesicles) or open sores (ulcers) in the genital, anal and nearby areas

Pain or itching around the genital area, buttocks and inner thighs

The initial symptom of genital herpes usually is pain or itching, beginning within a few weeks after exposure to an infected sexual partner. After several days, small red bumps may appear. They then rupture, becoming ulcers that ooze or bleed. Eventually, scabs form and the ulcers heal.

In women, sores can erupt in the vaginal area, external genitals, buttocks, anus or cervix.

Ulcers can make urination painful. You may also have pain and tenderness in your genital area until the infection clears. During an initial episode, you may have flu-like signs and symptoms, such as headache, muscle aches and fever, as well as swollen lymph nodes in your groin.

In some cases, the infection can be active and contagious even when sores aren't present.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and genital warts symptoms

HPV infection is one of the most common types of STIs. Some forms put women at high risk of cervical cancer. Other forms cause genital warts. HPV usually has no signs or symptoms. The signs and symptoms of genital warts include:

Small, flesh-colored or gray swellings in your genital area

Several warts close together that take on a cauliflower shape

Itching or discomfort in your genital area

Bleeding with intercourse

Often, however, genital warts cause no symptoms. Genital warts may be as small as 1 millimeter in diameter or may multiply into large clusters.

In women, genital warts can grow on the vulva, the walls of the vagina, the area between the external genitals and the anus, and the cervix. Genital warts can also develop in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person.

Hepatitis symptoms

Hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are all contagious viral infections that affect your liver. Hepatitis B and C are the most serious of the three, but each can cause your liver to become inflamed.

Some people never develop signs or symptoms. But for those who do, signs and symptoms may occur after several weeks and may include:

Fatigue nausea and vomiting

Abdominal pain or discomfort, especially in the area of your liver on your right side beneath your lower ribs

Loss of appetite

Fever

Dark urine

Muscle or joint pain

Itching

Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

Syphilis symptoms

Syphilis is a bacterial infection. The disease affects your genitals, skin and mucous membranes, but it can also involve many other parts of your body, including your brain and your heart.

The signs and symptoms of syphilis may occur in four stages — primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. There's also a condition known as congenital syphilis, which occurs when a pregnant woman with syphilis passes the disease to her unborn infant. Congenital syphilis can be disabling, even life-threatening, so it's important for a pregnant woman with syphilis to be treated.

Primary syphilis

The first sign of syphilis, which may occur from 10 days to three months after exposure, may be a small, painless sore (chancre) on the part of your body where the infection was transmitted, usually your genitals, rectum, tongue or lips. A single chancre is typical, but there may be multiple sores.

The sore typically heals without treatment, but the underlying disease remains and may reappear in the second (secondary) or third (tertiary) stage.

Secondary syphilis

Signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis may begin three to six weeks after the chancre appears, and may include:

Rash marked by red or reddish-brown, penny-sized sores over any area of your body, including your palms and soles. Fever is another symptom. Enlarged lymph nodes can result. Fatigue and a vague feeling of discomfort can eventuate. Soreness and aching are also symptomatic.

These signs and symptoms may disappear without treatment within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.

Latent syphilis

In some people, a period called latent syphilis — in which no symptoms are present — may follow the secondary stage. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the tertiary stage.

Tertiary syphilis

Without treatment, syphilis bacteria may spread, leading to serious internal organ damage and death years after the original infection.

Some of the signs and symptoms of tertiary syphilis include:

Lack of coordination

Numbness

Paralysis

Blindness

Dementia

At any stage, syphilis can affect the nervous system. Neurosyphilis may cause no signs or symptoms, or it can cause: